China Energy's losses are mounting. The producer of dimethyl ether reported a widening of its third quarter net loss to 77.5 million yuan (S$15.8 million) from 37.9 million yuan.

Sales fell by 19.2 per cent to 454.2 million for the three months ended Sept 30.

This was largely attributable to a 107.4 million yuan reduction in the sales of dimethyl ether. It suffered a double whammy, as both volume sold and average selling price were lower than the same period last year.

Loss per share worsened to 6.2 fen from three fen previously while net asset value per share fell to 25.3 fen compared to 41.2 fen as at Dec 31.

The group expects to report a loss for the full year.